Sites That Sustain Us
WWF: Panda.org
Sometimes we get so caught up in what sustainability means for humans, we forget the other half of the equation: the millions of other living things we share the planet with. We sometimes overlook that living within our means isn't just about ensuring that future generations live in a world as good (or better) as ours — in many cases, it's about making sure other critters out there can simply survive.
The WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund, but like so many organizations these days has become an acronym, like ESPN or CNN) works tirelessly to make sure the rest of creation at least has a place at the table when it comes to charting the future of the planet.
The organization has advocated for — and in some cases helped save from extinction — animals big and small, including the giant panda, a stylized version of which has become WWF's iconic logo. (It's URL is even www.panda.org.)
WWF worked with the Chinese government to help save the panda, found naturally only in China, through habitat conservation. Not one to rest on its laurels, the group currently has about 2,000 conservation projects going on in more than 100 countries, targeting other animals like African elephants and marine turtles.
Anyone visiting its well-designed, user-friendly Website can find the latest information on these and other projects, along with a comprehensive database detailing where WWF has been and where it wants to go.
Hoping to establish cachet among a generation weaned on computers and video games, the folks at panda.org recently created a WWF destination in Second Life, the growing virtual world where visitors guide computer-generated personalities down digital streets in impossibly chic cities, interacting with fellow visitors and even shopping and attending concerts.
These days, they're liable to come across WWF's Conservation Island on Second Life, where an orangutan will sell you ice cream and a floating panda keeps visitors up-to-date on the latest environmental news.
With marketing and messaging instincts like that, it's hard not to think WWF will be able to push it 45-year mission of protecting wildlife far into the future.
